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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
i read this like three weeks ago and forgot about it lmao tbh the ending fell a little flat compared to all the expectations i had from the quality of the previous books but still it was ok
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was an okay finish to the series. I still feel the world building was a bit thin. It was hard to imagine where these characters were and what it was like. I also thought the story was a bit slack yet rushed at the end. Not the best of books but it did wrap up the series and wasn't awful.
I did enjoy this book, and I'm fairly satisfied with how things turned out, but there are a few problems I had. And I just didn't enjoy it QUITE as much as the first two.
Full review to come!
Full review to come!
Read This Review & More Like It At Ageless Pages Reviews
I’d like to start by reminding our readers that my Skylark review was 5 stars and I named it my favorite book of 2012. My Shadowlark review was a bit more reluctant, but it was still a 4 star rating. This review does feature spoilers for previous books in the trilogy.
A popular review of the final Skylark book says,
"Trust me. Everything you've been hoping for, all in one book."
And that is completely true. Provided what you're hoping for is cliched writing, a new, unbeatable bad introduced two and a half books into a trilogy, even more jealousy, endless relationship drama, and interminable conversations about the shadows inside us. If what you were hoping for was wonder, world building, or that showdown between Lark and Gloriette? Perhaps you could go read book one again.
There is actually a scene where the main character and the villain face off on a catwalk over a bunch of evil science equipment. Has the book been optioned, because I feel like this was written just for the dramatic trailer shot of Shailene Woodley hanging from the scaffolding, feet shrouded in factory fog, while the music crescendos. Otherwise, there is zero reason to include something straight out of a 1980s action movie or a Silver Age comic book.
Beyond the cliched set pieces and writing, (two instances of the evil YA sentence, “I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding”,) Lark has suddenly become an awful person, actually telling Oren that he can’t explore a cure for his shadow because, “It changes my life too, you know.” The whole subplot about them not being together because of their shadows was pretty much resolved in the last book, and yet it makes up the greatest part of this one.
For a story that’s supposed to be about a rebellion overthrowing the government and healing the magical rift in the land, it spends an awful lot of time: describing the hideous gruel the rebels eat; flashing back to the life of Eve, the renewable; talking, talking, and more talking about whose turn it is to risk their life. (Hint, Lark always thinks it’s Lark’s). I complained that Shadowlark was light on action, compared to Skylark, but this time around, there is 1 (one!) fight scene before the climax. I’m not asking for non-stop war, but I never felt the urgency of the rebellion. I was bored.
Gloriette is in two flashbacks and two current scenes. For a character that’s been built as the ultimate bad and head of the evil organization, that’s just not ok. Her resolution was bullshit. The climax was actually pretty exciting, aside from the set dressing, and I didn’t hate the resolution, though I did think they started building the light/dark equivalency too late in the book.
Unfortunately, I can’t recommend Lark Ascending. Where the first book had everything I love in YA fantasy, this book had everything I hate. The magic system has become muddled and ill defined. There are now three love triangles. Animal deaths, (sort of.) Jealousy and girl fighting. It’s unfortunate, but even if the series wasn’t over, it would be for me.
I’d like to start by reminding our readers that my Skylark review was 5 stars and I named it my favorite book of 2012. My Shadowlark review was a bit more reluctant, but it was still a 4 star rating. This review does feature spoilers for previous books in the trilogy.
A popular review of the final Skylark book says,
"Trust me. Everything you've been hoping for, all in one book."
And that is completely true. Provided what you're hoping for is cliched writing, a new, unbeatable bad introduced two and a half books into a trilogy, even more jealousy, endless relationship drama, and interminable conversations about the shadows inside us. If what you were hoping for was wonder, world building, or that showdown between Lark and Gloriette? Perhaps you could go read book one again.
There is actually a scene where the main character and the villain face off on a catwalk over a bunch of evil science equipment. Has the book been optioned, because I feel like this was written just for the dramatic trailer shot of Shailene Woodley hanging from the scaffolding, feet shrouded in factory fog, while the music crescendos. Otherwise, there is zero reason to include something straight out of a 1980s action movie or a Silver Age comic book.
Beyond the cliched set pieces and writing, (two instances of the evil YA sentence, “I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding”,) Lark has suddenly become an awful person, actually telling Oren that he can’t explore a cure for his shadow because, “It changes my life too, you know.” The whole subplot about them not being together because of their shadows was pretty much resolved in the last book, and yet it makes up the greatest part of this one.
For a story that’s supposed to be about a rebellion overthrowing the government and healing the magical rift in the land, it spends an awful lot of time: describing the hideous gruel the rebels eat; flashing back to the life of Eve, the renewable; talking, talking, and more talking about whose turn it is to risk their life. (Hint, Lark always thinks it’s Lark’s). I complained that Shadowlark was light on action, compared to Skylark, but this time around, there is 1 (one!) fight scene before the climax. I’m not asking for non-stop war, but I never felt the urgency of the rebellion. I was bored.
Gloriette is in two flashbacks and two current scenes. For a character that’s been built as the ultimate bad and head of the evil organization, that’s just not ok. Her resolution was bullshit. The climax was actually pretty exciting, aside from the set dressing, and I didn’t hate the resolution, though I did think they started building the light/dark equivalency too late in the book.
Unfortunately, I can’t recommend Lark Ascending. Where the first book had everything I love in YA fantasy, this book had everything I hate. The magic system has become muddled and ill defined. There are now three love triangles. Animal deaths, (sort of.) Jealousy and girl fighting. It’s unfortunate, but even if the series wasn’t over, it would be for me.
Imma be honest, I had hoped that the third would get the series out of the slump the second one had created and my wish had been answered!
4,5 Star
Spoiler
I was skeptical at the beginning. Given by the fact that the whole going back home mission came out of nowhere in Shadowlark. Without a good and valid reason, besides that the city is Lark's 'home' or former home. But the way Spooner created the rebellion and reintroduced characters was very very elegant (besides Kris, I mean he literally body slammed into Oren-).
I also loved the classical black and white, or here 'magic and shadows'. That both melted together is technically the world we know (besides we can't turn into monsters, though this could also be interpreted with the dark side we all carry!)
Favourite character: Nix (The most reliable character and funniest by far. And yes, I cried like a baby at the end)
Quotes: (I was lazy with collecting, thats why they all from the end-)
Oren stepped in, putting himself bewteen Kris and me. "All this way, you claim to trust her, and now you think she's failed you?"
Oren curled my fingers around the dead pxie. "Nix's body; it's just a thing. Its sacrifice and its friendship, nothing can destroy that."
Phew. I'm actually pretty disappointed. I mean, how can I compare this to the first volume? The first volume was so extraordinary in terms of setting and story. The third volume was just a repeat of the second volume, only it was a bit better. We were in a city again ... all the time. Honestly, why is the author wasting her talent? She's really good at describing the forest and nature in general as a setting. There's something extraordinary about her and it really enchanted me ... But city descriptions? She's not even that good at it, and I'm also not a fan of being in the same place all the time - especially when it's a city.
The protagonist Lark is also totally different from the first volume and I can't understand many of her decisions. In the first volume, I understood all her decisions and fully agreed with them. I don't know what has happened to the author that she no longer writes so well. In any case, I'm now quite put off reading another book by her.
The protagonist Lark is also totally different from the first volume and I can't understand many of her decisions. In the first volume, I understood all her decisions and fully agreed with them. I don't know what has happened to the author that she no longer writes so well. In any case, I'm now quite put off reading another book by her.
I just - I have so many emotions, am a little overwhelmed. I love that we came full circle back to the Wall. That we are confronted with what exactly the Institute did to the Renewable they were using - to Eve - but that no one person was villanised for it. Not completely.
full review: http://www.foldedbetweenthepagesofbooks.com/
full review: http://www.foldedbetweenthepagesofbooks.com/
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated